by Zoe York
“Then prepare to dock with our ship. We don’t have all day.”
Not without some understanding first. “There are limits to what I’ll carry for you,” he rumbled, wishing he’d turned on the video comms after all, because he wanted her to see his face and know he wasn’t kidding. “I need to see the cargo.”
Make sure it wasn’t alive. He wouldn’t put it past them.
“Fine.”
He cringed at the dismissal in her voice. Why had he ever gotten into bed with her? Personally or professionally? Because it had suited your purposes. Well, there was that. This noble thing was somewhat new.
He disconnected the comms link and watched on the monitor as the Verveenian ship drew along the starboard side.
Navena didn’t say anything.
The two airlocks were almost lined up.
He took a deep breath.
“Don’t,” she said icily. “Don’t try to handle me.”
“I was just going to say that if you throw a punch, her right side is weak.”
She snorted a surprised laugh. “Yeah?”
“Well, yeah. But I was also going to tell you that it’s not what you think, and there’s no reason to throw a punch in the first place.”
“Really?”
Not really, but that question was better left unanswered. He gestured toward the common room. Might as well meet their visitors at the airlock. Keep the visit as short as possible.
Navena stomped passed him and he resisted the urge to pull her back against him. He loved the moment when she let the tension go, and her hard fighter stance dissolved into the secret warm woman only he got to hold in his arms.
Depending on how much of a scene Bel’eel created, it might be the last chance he’d get for a while.
Spending the next few nights sleeping in the cockpit…he sighed and shook his head. It was probably what he deserved, but fuck if he’d take it without a fight.
That scuffle would have to wait, though. The red light above the airlock hatch was lit up—extra fucking bright, for the extra fucking aggravation that lay on the other side.
Bel’eel’s not the one to blame for any of this. No. He knew when he made the deal with her that it would come back on him, that Navena would discover his true nature.
He’d just wanted more than a handful of days with her before the blinders were ripped off. Before he had to stand before her and admit he was no better than the average criminal.
What a shitty husband he’d already proven to be.
And hiding from his demons—and exes—would be even weaker. So he squared his shoulders and pressed the release button, opening the hatch to the Verveenian crew on the other side.
Bel’eel came first, of course, hips and attitude leading the way through the airlock.
“So this is the woman you asked me to help you rescue.” Bel’eel slid against Aldric’s chest, not looking at Navena.
He shoved her back, ignoring her pout as he introduced her to Navena. “This is Bel’eel Davidsdottir. Captain of a mercenary ship I’ve had dealings with.”
“Dealings?” Bel’eel laughed. “And that’s it? Where are your manners? Introduce your friend, Aldric.”
His manners were decidedly absent, and he wasn’t worried about that in the least.
Beside him, Navena held out her hand. “Greetings, Bel’eel. Thank you for your assistance in securing my freedom. I am Navena.”
Bel’eel nodded but didn’t extend her own hand. Behind her, her crew stood still—they all knew better than to poke the bear that was their boss. She gave Aldric a slow once up and down, then turned her gaze back to Navena, who’d crossed her arms and dropped her feigned diplomacy.
The two women sized each other up.
Aldric changed the subject. “How would you like me to inspect the cargo? And where am I taking it for you?”
They ignored him.
“Only Navena? That’s vague,” Bel’eel smirked.
“Who I am is of no concern to you.”
“No? I think it is. You are the competition for my lover’s heart.”
“Enough—” he ground out, but it was too late.
“Your what?”
Aldric winced as Navena whirled on him, her eyes full of fury. On the one hand, he liked the way jealousy rolled off her. Selfishly, that was a good sign for their relationship.
“His nothing,” he quickly replied, shooting Bel’eel a warning look.
Being the cold-blooded mercenary that she was, the other woman ignored it, her pink skin turning a shimmering gold in places as she preened. “Are we not lovers?”
Lort, Aldric cursed under his breath, grabbing Navena around the waist as she launched herself at his former lover. He took an elbow in his solar plexus for the effort, and with an oof, muttered that the Verveenians should start bringing the cargo over.
He needed a few minutes to sort out his wife.
Hauling Navena backward across the common room, he didn’t her go until they were safe inside his personal quarters. Their personal quarters now.
“Stop it,” he said, bracing himself against the wall, and her. Leaving nothing between them, not even air.
“You said I could hit her.”
“Well, I lied, you crazy hellcat.”
“What kind of weak-ass Viking are you? Let me go! She’s pissing all over what’s mine!” It took her a minute to realize why he was grinning at her. “I mean…”
“No, that’s exactly what you mean. And that’s okay. I approve of this possessiveness. It’s hot.”
She growled at him. That was hot, too.
He pressed his nose against hers. “You want to beat someone up? As soon as they leave, you can put on gloves—or not—and pummel me to your heart’s content.”
Instead of answering, she kissed him. Hard.
Good.
“You’ve been keeping secrets from me,” she hissed angrily against his mouth, and he pressed his lips harder against hers, silencing her again.
With a growl, she jerked her face away from his, but she didn’t go far, because he held her in place with his steely grip. “What secrets?”
“That your lizard lady girlfriend helped rescue me, for one!”
“She’s not my—“ He cut himself off. “I called in a favor. I hadn’t seen her in months before that. Strictly business.”
“And now she’s calling one right back. Just how much do you two owe each other?”
That wasn't fair. Or maybe it was, but then she didn't understand the lengths he'd go to. “I’d have done anything to get you back, including selling my soul to the devil.”
“Oh great. You hooked up with the devil. Fantastic.”
“Stop it. I like the jealousy, but the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can kick them off the ship.”
“And then I can kick your ass?”
“You want that?”
Between them, her chest rose and fell. Even as her eyes glittered angrily at him and her lips trembled with rage, her body easily betrayed her. Her hips swayed against his and her nipples hardened. Fuck. His cock swelled in response.
“Yeah, you want that.” He licked his lips and pressed in, grinding his pelvis against hers. She was tough as nails, but he was bigger than her, a fact they both liked. “Do you know how many times I wanted to finish up a sparring session with a hard, fast fuck against the barn wall?”
She licked her lips, a small smile fighting to break through the scowl. “That would have surprised me.”
“But not now.” He traced the wet path she’d just blazed across her mouth with his own before continuing, their faces now pressed right against each other. He could feel her heart pounding against his own and the ache there pushed into his skin and made his voice rough. “Now you know how much I want you. Just you. Only you. Until the end of days.”
She did.
“So you can restrain yourself from violence for a few hours, yes? Be a good wife and let me handle Bel’eel and her crew so they can get th
e hell away from us?”
That was asking a lot, and she knew that he knew it. “Trust me, Navena,” he rasped against her cheek, his big body hard and steady against hers. “I’ll never let you down. You have my word.”
She closed her eyes and licked her lips, her heart pounding at the speed of light as she nodded roughly.
Chapter Nine
Navena paced back and forth across the end of the common room closest to the cockpit. This wasn’t her ship and it wasn’t any of her business what cargo was in the crates stacked outside the hold, ready for inspection.
That didn’t stop her from being curious and having a damn hard time holding her tongue.
Aldric stood in a should-be-ridiculous manspreading stance, taking up the space of two men with his chest puffed, arms crossed, and feet planted wide.
She wanted to climb his body and kiss him senseless.
It reminded her of the day they met on Midgard. He’d been dangerous to look at that day, too—larger than life and intense. More classically Viking than this good man still cloaked in a bad guy persona, with his short hair and dark, hooded gaze. She missed his long braid. But the piercing looks weren’t that different, really—she just understood all the murky depths now.
Whatever happened, this time together had changed her. She didn’t put any stock in the idea of her being his fated mate, as he’d hinted around more than once, but chosen mate she could live with.
Of course, there was still the pesky matter of her being enlisted in the FedNat Forces—but if they thought she was dead…
No. She couldn’t shirk her duty.
She’d have to go through the process of un-enlisting. Hopefully being abandoned would help speed up that process.
The thought of shedding her uniform was both terrifying and thrilling.
The thought of doing it to be with Aldric was surprisingly calming—probably the only calm thread in her over-worked brain. Every other thought-chain was working overtime to figure out what she was missing about what was going on in front of her. If it was her, she’d kick that pink-and-gold-skinned alien chick out the hatch and be done with her.
She sighed.
That right there proved that whatever was going on, Aldric was the better, more noble person between them. He owed this woman for helping him, and he’d pay that debt no matter the cost.
“What in Odin’s name is that?” Aldric’s nostrils flared as he peered into the fifth crate. The first four had held basic chemistry supplies. “No. Get this the hell off my ship.”
“It’s not what you think.” Bel’eel reached into the crate and lifted up a skull. It looked a hell of a lot like a humanoid. Navena’s stomach turned. The mercenary ignored both of their reactions and kept going. “Yes, they’re remains. Ancient ones, that need to be protected.”
Aldric snorted. “Tell that to someone who will believe it.” He stalked past the crew and hit the airlock open button. “Get. Now.”
“No. You owe me, Aldric Gunter, and I’m calling it in.”
“I don’t traffic in human remains. The only customers for…” He trailed off and shoved his hand through the air toward the crates. “That material are seriously dangerous people with frightening beliefs.”
“Yes, someone had that desire for this material,” Bel’eel said as she swanned closer to him. “They were dug up from the Credweert Mines on Drendali 7 and taken out of that solar system by a trophy hunter who meant to sell them. We were hired by someone else who wanted it intercepted. We’ve done that. Why must you assume that I’m always up to some nefarious purpose?”
“Because every time I’ve needed your services, it’s to do something illegal!”
“For a good cause!”
They were yelling at each other now, their voices shaking. Navena barely had time to process what Aldric was saying before he launched into another tirade. “I am not your messenger boy or a storage unit. You know my bounds, Bel’eel. This violates every rule I’ve ever laid down between us.”
Bel’eel wilted for a split-second, then her face softened and her voice smoothed over in an attempt to please a man she’d once been intimate with. Their history dripped off every word, every look and Navena felt it like acid on her skin. “You don’t need to do anything with them besides hang on to them. We need to enter the Drendali System to pick up a scientist that is going to travel with the remains to a safe location. It’s not wise for us to take the cargo with us when we do that. You know my word is good, Aldric. You can trust me.”
If it were possible for Navena to grow claws and fangs, she’d have done so in that moment. She’d have hissed and pounced and sliced and ripped. The force of her reaction, again, to a mere expression of interest from another female was distressing.
This wasn’t her.
It is now.
“Shouldn’t the cargo be returned to the Drendali System? No, wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” Aldric glared at the Verveenian captain, the rest of their conversation happening in an unspoken tense exchange of glares. “We need to be on our way in seven days at the most.”
“We’ll be back in plenty of time,” Bel’eel said smoothly.
Too smoothly. The hairs on the back of Navena’s neck stood up. She bit her lip to keep herself quiet, but she could feel that false wall crumbling.
“I will jettison the entire shipment if you aren’t.” Aldric’s threat reverberated through the entire ship. Navena moved a few steps closer, willing and ready to back him up as needed. “You can pick it up from amidst the stardust,” he continued, thunder rolling off his every word. “If you can find it. And I won’t give a damn either way.”
It was both disturbing and fascinating to see how the other woman responded to his words. Like she knew Aldric to be a formidable man. Like she’d known his dominance far longer than Navena, and while that was life, it still rankled.
Navena had stood and watched long enough. “We’ll deliver the goods for you,” she said suddenly. Anything to disrupt the connection between her husband and his ex-lover. Anything to get this woman off their ship. “Or tell us coordinates and we’ll meet you there, so you don’t have to come all the way back here. But we’re on a tight timeline and we would like to, at the same time, be sure that we honour our debt to you. It may be smoothest if we just take the cargo to its final destination.” She paused, letting her words sink in with everyone. “You may not know me, Bel’eel. But you told my husband to trust you. And I trust him. Now, I’m asking you to trust me.”
“What are you doing?” Aldric asked, alarm zinging through his gut.
Navena shot a hard look in his direction. Somewhere between never you mind and a more taunting wouldn’t you like to know. Either way, it wasn’t good.
Gods, she was beautiful when fiery. All the time, really, but as she prowled closer, strength emanating from every pore, he thought his heart might explode from pride.
“Your husband…” Bel’eel glanced between them, then straightened her back and canted her head to the side. “He is a wise man to marry you.”
“I’m beginning to realize that, yes.” Navena smiled coolly. “Coordinates?”
Aldric knew better than to tell his wife she was insane, but what other word was there for leaping into an unknown situation in a small, under-armed spacecraft with only him by her side?
Bel’eel gave her a long, hard look before nodding and muttering something in Verveenian over her shoulder. One of her crew pulled out a tablet, attached a data plug and tapped at the screen a few times before handing the plug to her boss, who passed it to Navena.
Who looked at him. “Shall I go to the cockpit and program in a flight path?”
Apparently Aldric had just gained himself a new navigator. At least she’d asked it in the form of a question. He nodded brusquely. “Fine,” he said, speaking to the Verveenians. “Tell me who we are meeting. And there better not be any surprises.”
Chapter Ten
Aldric watched through narrowed eyes as
Navena wiggled into a zero gravity suit in the common room. “You should stay here.”
“Then who would have your six?” She shook her head, her long dark locks sliding silkily against the silver of the spacesuit. “Don’t be silly. I probably have more time doing moon walks than you do. This is going to be a piece of cake.”
It might be. But they hadn’t been able to establish a working comms link with the elusive scientist who would receive the contraband shipment and hopefully keep it safe. They’d taken a wormhole to their destination, a pre-space travel solar system that they really had no business sliding into, but on the other hand, nobody was watching them. There were too many political ramifications for meddling with the innocent, so the big guns stayed clear, and for that reason, the only civilization was on the planet below.
Well, and apparently a subterranean research station on this moon.
Apparently.
It was entirely possible Bel’eel had sent them on a fruitless mission to be a bitch.
Lort. The shit he got twisted up in. He just wanted to drag Navena back to the farm and convince her to stay with him forever. Why was that so hard?
They zipped up and checked their weapons. Docked their comms devices inside their helmets and switched to voice commands. Loaded the cargo on the payload dock, ready to lower it from the ship’s belly to the moon’s surface as soon as the airlock was sealed and they transferred to the moon’s environment.
“You ready?” she asked him through the comms connection. Excitement reverberated off her. She lived for missions like this, and Aldric only did them out of necessity.
Lies. He loved the space travel. It was the possibility of a showdown on a moon’s surface with his mate in the middle that made him uncomfortable.
With a deep breath, he nodded, and she went through the safety check on the portal before opening the door to the dark, deserted moonscape.
It took a moment to adjust to the weaker gravitational pull of the deserted moon. Navena had it down pat—she stood still for a second before taking a small step, then a larger bound. Her arms went out to her sides for balance, but she barely needed it.
